Premier League Previews – Fixtures, team news (all times GMT) Liverpool v Arsenal; Saturday February 8; Anfield, 12.45pm Steven Gerrard is one of the Premier League’s eternal flames. Always an exciting player to watch, he’s still firing long shots, pinging Hollywood passes and nodding in bullet headers. If anything, his hairline appears to be descending ever forwards rather than receding back. Yet while he looks a picture of youth, Gerrard turns 34 this year, and now plays a more defensive midfield role for Liverpool. How successful this has been is a divisive topic. He has the skill and strength to play the part. Whether he still has the mobility is another matter. Brendan Rogers also sets his team up to play short, swift, intricate passes. The raking – sometimes exquisite, occasionally wayward – passes of Gerrard can appear incongruous. It’s just one intriguing subplot to this clash with Arsenal, as Arsene Wenger’s troupe of busy, swarming, mostly tiny midfielders are the kind of footballers who will look to get up in Gerrard’s grille. Stifling the supply to Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez certainly seems a more sensible aim than stopping the dynamic duo when they actually get the ball. Arsenal’s back four has been strong this season, but it’s their midfield that really impresses. Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott are injured, but it’s just given Santi Cazorla and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain recent chances to shine. Both teams look to dominate possession, but both also boast pace and precision finishing on the counter-attack. All the makings of a humdinger at Anfield. Tottenham v Everton; Sunday February 9; White Hart Lane, 1.30pm Now looks a good time to be taking on Roberto Martinez’s Everton. Loan forwards Gerard Deulofeu and Romelu Lukaku are injured, while one of this season’s stars – right-back Seamus Coleman – is just coming back from a lay-off. Tim Sherwood’s Tottenham attack in numbers, but can look overrun in midfield. Hardly ideal against a team who press like Everton, although the busy Paulinho impressed versus Hull last weekend. He could be key on Sunday. Sunderland v Hull City; Saturday February 8; Stadium Of Light, 3pm On the surface this is two teams going in different directions, with Sunderland resurgent under Gus Poyet now level on points with Hull, who have taken one point from their past five games. But wait! Hull have an all-new strike partnership in Shane Long and Nikica Jelavic, who looked dangerous in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham. Sunderland, with their own new signing Liam Bridcutt impressing on his debut, will need to be wary of Hull on the break. Swansea City v Cardiff City; Saturday February 8; Liberty Stadium, 5.30pm Neither team has ever won a league double over their bitter rivals in the South Wales derby, but Cardiff get the chance on Saturday. And what a chance, after Michael Laudrup parted company with Swansea on Tuesday night. Defender Garry Monk, who joined the Swans coaching team hours before the Dane’s departure, will take charge at the Liberty. New recruits Kenwyne Jones and Wilfried Zaha have enlivened Cardiff’s attack; they will fancy their chances here. Manchester United v Fulham; Sunday February 9; Old Trafford, 4pm Prolific Greek striker Konstantinos Mitroglou should make his Fulham debut on Sunday, but another, less heralded, new recruit is as crucial. John Heitinga adds steel to Fulham’s dodgy defence and will need to start plugging the leaks fast. Among Manchester United’s dilemmas is that while David Moyes likes his teams to use width, his wingers are in poor form. Adnan Januzaj, rested against Stoke last weekend, could well return to add some much-needed flair. Aston Villa v West Ham United; Saturday February 8; Villa Park, 3pm Sam Allardyce had a double helping of his favourite combo meal (Andy Carroll knockdown, Kevin Nolan finish, tasty chicken celebration) last weekend. However, while Carroll’s red card against Swansea had Big Sam spitting feathers, Winston Reid’s return from injury will have heartened him. The Kiwi defender is a handy additional option as West Ham look to combat the threat of Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke, who’s finally found his form of late. Chelsea v Newcastle United; Saturday February 8; Stamford Bridge, 3pm It’s a tough ask for Newcastle to repeat their 2-0 win against Chelsea from earlier this season on Saturday. Key in that success were Loic Remy (suspended) and Yohan Cabaye (sold), while the Magpies are also without their beloved figurehead Joe Kinnear (dismantling a trouser press in a travel tavern. Probably). Chelsea, meanwhile, are full of themselves after outplaying Manchester City. Expect Jose Mourinho’s little horse to clear this hurdle cleanly. Crystal Palace v West Bromwich Albion; Saturday February 8; Selhurst Park, 3pm Both of these teams have employed new managers with differing styles of play since their league meeting in November. Tony Pulis has organised Crystal Palace into a solid team, with a handy knack of taking points off the sides around them. West Brom are still adjusting to Pepe Mel’s pressing game. Expect the away team to boss possession, Palace to try to hit West Brom on the break and the resulting match to be tighter than Jamie Redknapp’s trousers. Norwich City v Manchester City; Carrow Road, 3pm Norwich are a curiosity. Rather than having runs of form, they tend to suffer defeats and poor results, then – seemingly out of nowhere – they will pull out a victory. So, after losing to the then last-placed Cardiff last weekend, we fully expect Norwich to smash Manchester City, reversing the 7-0 loss from earlier this season. Especially as Sergio Aguero – scorer of that all-important sixth goal – is out injured. You can get 950/1 on that score right now. So lump on it. Southampton v Stoke; Saturday February 8; St Marys Stadium, 3pm It’s a sign of how far Manchester United have slipped when you can say that Charlie Adam – star of Stoke’s win last weekend – is unlikely to get the same space against Southampton that he got against the champions. Saints’ full-backs Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers tend to push forward, flooding the midfield and supporting attacks. Stoke, without an away league win since August, could find themselves up against it on Saturday.
Posted on: Thu, 06 Feb 2014 14:58:20 +0000
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